written at 30th october 2004, by Misura, in reply to a Trick-or-treat-challenge made in my livejournal by Gangstavidel which offered as a subject:

"Aya, Ken and a Red Sox hat."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

He had asked her out.

He, Ken Hidaka, had asked her, Aya Fujimiya, out on a date. And her brother hadn't killed him.

If they hadn't already prevented it, he'd have believed the end of the world was approaching. But they had, and so the most pressing question on Ken's mind after his stunning accomplishment was how to stay as far away from Yohji as possible during their afternoon-shift.

Some people could be pathetically sore losers, it appeared.

Had their positions been reversed, Ken would -never- have lowered himself to trying to trip up Yohji whenever he walked by and dumping all less-pleasant customers on him. In fact, Ken would probably have felt happy for Yohji.

Well, maybe that last was a bit too much to assume, but ... Ken would -not- have behaved as petty as Yohji. It was ridiculous anyway, since Ken -knew- Yohji had only asked Aya-chan out to get Ran all riled up. It wasn't like Yohji was in love with her.

Ken sighed, checking the clock only to find there was another solid hour left before the shop would close, after which Yohji would magically vanish, leaving Ken to do the cleaning. For the first time, that prospect was something pleasant, something Ken looked forward to.

Making an effort to smile friendly and politely at the old man who was fussing over the arrangement he wanted to buy not being of as good a quality as the ones he'd created in his own youth, Ken reminded himself of why he should be wearing a wide smile for the rest of the week.

He had asked her out.

xxxxx

Of course, he and Aya-chan officially weren't going on anything even remotely resembling a date. Ken wasn't suicidal enough to use words like 'date' and 'Aya-chan' in the same sentence after all.

They were going to see a soccer-match on Saturday-afternoon. As friends.

Ken hadn't thought Ran was going to buy that, no matter how much of a social outcast the man had been for the last years. Not with Yohji there to fan the flames of his brotherly protectiveness and general paranoia. Thus, Ken had seen himself forced to take desperate measures, all in the name of success.

He'd bribed Omi to agree to sacrifice an afternoon of surfing the web and instead accompany Ken and Aya-chan. -And- to plead for him with Ran and, indirectly, Yohji, naturally.

And so, after all was said and done, Ken came out of the struggle as the victor, with Omi as his ally, Yohji as his sworn enemy for the next few days and Ran watching his every move.

Not too bad for a 'soccerfreak', if he did say so himself.

xxxxx

It was around noon on Saturday that Ken realized he had two problems which he hadn't thought of before.

Firstly, there was Omi. Or rather, the fact that Omi would be around all the time. That would hardly create the proper mood Ken had wanted to accomplish.

Sure, he wasn't -calling- it a date, but, well, he -had- been hoping to get some time alone with Aya-chan. As far as one could speak of 'being alone' while surrounded by dozens of other supporters.

His second problem was what to wear.

Ken didn't go on dates very often, so most often, he had Yohji give him clothing-advise, after which he wore a combination that Yohji had shoved aside as 'way too boring and tame'. It was a pretty good method, judging by the girls' first reaction to his appearance.

After a few hours, the date would usually slip down into awkwardness, with long silences and looks at the clock, but Ken was pretty sure that whatever caused that problem, it wasn't because of his clothes that there rarely were any second dates on his calendar.

This morning, Yohji had seemed in a good mood, and even -offered- to help Ken pick his outfit, only Ken felt a little suspicious of this sudden change of heart.

In the end, he decided to simply wear the colors of the team he'd be cheering for, which translated into wearing black jeans and a red shirt. As a 'finishing touch', he grabbed the cap that Yuriko had sent him the Christmas after her departure to Australia.

She'd written that it was supposed to be a hat worn by the supporters of an American soccer-team, though Ken couldn't think of the team it was supposed to be for. But it was black, with a red sign on the front, so it fitted the rest of his clothes nicely.

Ignoring Yohji's exclamation that he wouldn't want to be caught dead in the outfit Ken was wearing, let alone on a -date-, Ken hurried down the hall to make sure Omi wouldn't be late. It might have made a great excuse to leave without him, but Ken was pretty sure Ran wouldn't let him do anything like that.

Ken had managed to force him to accept his taking Aya-chan -and- Omi to a soccer-game; taking Omi wasn't an option or a choice anymore, but rather an obligation and a condition for Ken to keep his head after having talked to Aya-chan.

xxxxx

Half an hour before the end of the game, Ken came to a rather disappointing conclusion.

If he'd been intending to take -Omi- on a date, his plan would have been a smashing success. It had taken the blonde a while to warm up to the game, but currently, Omi's cheeks were flushed, and his gaze was glued to the ball. Ken wouldn't be surprised if Omi'd have a sore throat from all the whistling and cheering he'd done tomorrow.

Aya-chan, on the other hand, seemed to be feeling a bit, well, out of place. She'd listened attentively enough when Ken had explained the rules of the game to her, and why the team he was supporting was -obviously- more deserving of the victory than the other team, yet her face showed nothing more than a polite smile.

Yohji called that face the 'soap-wish-face', since, according to him, it indicated that the girl in question was thinking how much rather she'd have been home, watching TV, than where she was right now.

Ken didn't really believe Aya-chan was the type of girl to enjoy soap-operas, but it didn't take a self-proclaimed expert on girls to figure out she wasn't exactly having the same good time Ken and Omi were having.

Which meant he could forget ever getting a second date, since even if Aya-chan might not mind giving it a second try, Ran would. Provided he didn't chop off Ken's head for taking his sister someplace where she hadn't had a good time.

Sighing, Ken decided he was doomed.

xxxxx

In an attempt to postpone the inevitable, Ken proposed to go for a drink in the cafeteria nearby the park. Both his companions agreed easily enough, though Omi stipulated that Ken was to pay for their drinks, because Omi's monthly allowance was needed to buy school-books.

Ken had agreed grumblingly.

After he'd barely taken a sip of his strawberry-milkshake, Omi declared he'd seen a friend from school on the other end of the cafeteria, to whom he'd like to speak. Before Ken could say anything to ruin this golden opportunity, Omi and his drink had vanished.

And Ken realized that he was now alone, with Aya-chan, in a place that didn't require him to scream to make himself audible.

This was, in other words, his perfect chance to strike up a conversation and make a favorable impression on Aya-chan. Naturally, he couldn't talk about anything improper (like if -she- thought of this afternoon as a date) or unpleasant (like school), so Ken's mind desperately grasped at the first suitable subject that came to mind.

Her brother.

xxxxx

Ken was somewhat surprised to throw a glance out of the window and see that it had already become evening. It didn't -feel- like that much time had passed.

Aya-chan smiled at him beamingly as he awkwardly suggested it might be a good idea to go back to the flowershop, especially since Omi seemed to have already left, which meant people might get worried otherwise.

As they walked home, Ken allowed himself to cautiously begin to hope that perhaps there would be a second date after all. He was sure he'd be able to think of some destination that would interest her.

"You really like my brother, don't you, Ken-kun?" Aya-chan asked, a bit suddenly to Ken, who had thought they'd been talking about Aya-chan, instead of her brother.

"Uhm, yeah, sure." What else could he say? Besides, it was true; he did think of Ran as a friend, though he didn't have the impression Ran appreciated that in any way. Ran didn't seem to want any friends.

Aya-chan nodded happily. "He likes you too." She winked at him. "Maybe you should invite him on a date sometime. I'm sure the two of you would have a good time."

"Ah," Ken managed, wondering where on earth he'd gone wrong. "Why - "

"The cap pretty much gives it away, you know." Aya-chan grinned. "Even if I'm not sure if my brother would notice; he can be very oblivious on occasion. But don't worry; I'll point it out to him."

"Oh," Ken replied weakly. Then, as his brains kicked in again: "What do you mean about the cap?"

Aya-chan stared at him puzzledly. "It has the western letter 'R' on it. 'R' for Ran, right?"

OWARI

A/N: -frowns- I feel like this fic sorely missed coherency, but I can't figure out a way to fix it.

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